Compositions prepared by combining silicone resins with a cross-linking agent and a hydrosilylation catalyst are generally known in the art. Moreover, it is known that some of said compositions may be cured to form silicone resins and silicone adhesives. Additionally, it is known that some of said resins and adhesives may be used to form laminated substrates.
Silicone resins are useful in a variety of applications by virtue of their unique combination of properties, including high thermal stability, good moisture resistance, excellent flexibility, high oxidization resistance, low dielectric constant, and high transparency. For example, coatings of silicone resins can be used to protect, insulate, or bond a variety of substrates and are widely used in the automotive, electronic, construction, appliance, and aerospace industries. Silicone resins may also be used to form freestanding silicone resin films, which can be used in a variety of applications, notably as components of displays, solar cells, electronic boards, touch screens, fire-resistant wallpapers, impact-resistant windows, and transparent or nontransparent electrodes.
Although many silicone resins are known, there nevertheless remains a need in the art for silicone resins having improved properties, preferably more than one improved property. Moreover, there remains need in the art for laminated substrates comprising such improved resins. However, improving one property of a silicone resin without seriously compromising other properties remains a challenge. For example, decreased flammability can be achieved by increasing crosslink density, but increasing crosslink density causes embrittlement of the cured resin, thereby decreasing mechanical flexibility. Thus, there exists a need for approaches to improving at least one property of silicone resins without compromising the others. There also exists a need for low flammability silicone adhesives and films having improved mechanical flexibility over known low flammability silicone adhesives and films.